Runge Park

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll pass it along just the same. Now, some men leave their mark on a town by building something tall. Henry J.

Runge left his mark by giving something away. Runge was a Galveston businessman, European-educated, the son of a German immigrant, and he was born in 1859. In 1890, he bought up the land and laid out the town of Arcadia.

And right then, at that same moment, he turned around and donated one particular site, this very ground, for use as a park. Didn't wait. Didn't negotiate.

Just gave it. The Galveston County Commissioners Court took notice of that, and in time they named the park in his honor. Runge Park.

Henry J. Runge passed in 1922, but the park carried his name forward. Now, a patch of donated ground is one thing.

A patch of donated ground that catches fire with a whole community, that's another thing entirely. The first community-wide use of Runge Park came in 1938, when folks gathered here for a dairy show. And here's the part worth savoring: that dairy show is still held yearly.

Whatever Henry Runge imagined when he signed over that land in 1890, I'd like to think a show that just keeps coming back, year after year, would've suited him fine. The park didn't stop growing either. In 1957, ten more acres were purchased to enlarge the grounds, and today Runge Park provides facilities for all manner of recreational activities, including the annual Galveston County Fair and Rodeo.

A businessman bought some land, laid out a town, and handed a piece of it back to the people before the ink was dry. Not a bad legacy for one stretch of ground.

What the marker says

Galveston businessman Henry J. Runge (1859-1922), European-educated son of a German immigrant, bought the land and laid out the town of Arcadia in 1890. At that time he donated this site for use as a park. Later the Galveston County Commissioners Court named the park in his honor. First community-wide use of Runge Park was in 1938 for a dairy show that is still held yearly. Enlarged by the purchase of 10 acres in 1957, the grounds provide facilities for many recreational activities as well as the annual Galveston County Fair and Rodeo.